The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has revealed widespread abuse and neglect suffered by unaccompanied minors who crossed into the United States and were placed with unvetted or improperly vetted sponsors under the previous administration.

In February 2025, DHS launched a national child welfare initiative aimed at locating and protecting migrant children at risk of exploitation.

The initiative has already uncovered troubling patterns of abuse, including instances of forced labor, sexual abuse, and placement with adults convicted of serious crimes.

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“Children’s safety and security is non-negotiable,” said Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Laszlo Baksay.

“The previous administration’s failure to implement meaningful safeguards has allowed vulnerable kids to fall into the hands of criminals. Our special agents are working tirelessly to locate these alien children, ensure their protection, and hold accountable those who have abused the system.”

As part of the ongoing investigation, ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division has conducted welfare checks on unaccompanied minors who were placed with sponsors after entering the U.S.

DHS officials said these checks have revealed numerous sponsors in possession of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and others who forced children into labor or subjected them to substandard living conditions.

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Some sponsors had criminal records that included convictions for drug trafficking, prostitution, attempted murder, and hit-and-run offenses.

In what DHS described as “the most disturbing cases,” sponsors falsely claiming to be family members impregnated minor girls placed in their care.

Chris Clem, the former U.S. Border Patrol chief at the Yuma Sector in Arizona, confirmed the findings and expressed concern about gaps in child protection during the previous administration.

Clem had advised the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services Department on solutions for managing unaccompanied minors during the early days of President Trump’s first term.

“While that had begun on Inauguration Day, because of the backlog of cases, the information… was poor at best in so many of these instances,” Clem said.

“It was taking more time. And so we put a lot of things in place that… everything is lining up. … There should be zero controversy regarding protecting the children. Regardless of the ideologues that are out there, accounting for these children is critical.”

Clem added that issues involving unaccompanied minors were not fully addressed under the prior administration, despite record-breaking illegal border crossings.

“We knew from a law enforcement perspective, our job was to do the immediate safety check, and then we had to process the kids and place them in custody of [the] Office of Refugee Resettlement,” Clem said.

“Now, what happened from there, we didn’t have specifics, but we knew… it was government. … We knew there [were] probably problems — the vetting and being able to ask questions to the kids was never something we were really allowed to do.”

According to DHS, if ICE HSI agents encounter illegal aliens during welfare checks, the adults are processed for removal.

However, unaccompanied minors found to be in the country illegally are placed in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

“Our agents are doing what should’ve been done all along: protecting children, not pushing them into the shadows,” said Baksay.

“This is the responsibility of any government, Republican or Democrat, but it was the Trump administration that insisted on rigorous sponsor screening and biometric verification. Those guardrails were dismantled, and we’re now seeing the consequences.”

Clem emphasized the importance of restoring public trust. “The expectation of the American public that our government is serving the kids in the best interest was absolutely necessary,” he said.

“That’s why it’s important to me — because it’s protecting children, and it’s doing what the majority of Americans expect us to do as a government — and that’s, at the very least, take care of these children.”

The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates there are roughly 18.6 million illegal immigrants living in the United States as of March 2025 — a population increase of 4.1 million since December 2020.

Recent data from U.S. Border Patrol shows zero migrant releases into the country in May 2025, a sharp decline from the 62,000 released during the same period under the Biden-Harris administration in May 2024.